New Beginnings
by Dragoncatcher123
Summary: Post Season finale (ignoring Legend of Kora) this Azula centric story deals with Azula's past, her mental state and follows her through the steps she takes to make it in the world. Slow burn Azutara end-game.


Chapter One - Prison Flames

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, RWBY, Once Upon a Time or any of the other shows /books/movies that I may write about.

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The rocky terrain that surrounds the facility was man-made specifically to deter prisoners from escaping. An unforeseen consequence of the geological shifts and mass restructuring of the terrain also resulted in a hostile environment, unable to support many of the typical animals found on the island.

Azula sighed, the tiny window within her cell brought her nothing but sadness and anger. What point was there to a window where there weren't even any animals or a nice landscape to see? She was beginning to regret frightening off the guards, at least they would have been able to remove the straitjacket. The sensation of being trapped was doing nothing for Azula's already frayed nerves. She had tried to burn off the jacket but her energy levels were too low, the most she could conjure up was a slight heat to emerge from her hands. She was willing to risk being burned, as long as the end result granted her the freedom to move her body.

As she slumped down against the wall, she took a slow look around her cell. 'Time for some strategic planning. If I'm going to escape this place, I need to know what there is to work with.' Azula thought as she took in the obviously Earth-bender made cell and its contents. The walls and ceiling were clearly made of a stone of some type, the cell being roughly 8 ft by 8 ft by 8 ft. In the corner closest to the door was a tiny bathroom area, a toilet and sink, followed by the window and then the stone bed opposite the bathroom. The bed had a thin blanket folded atop it and a pillow that looked as if it had been subjected to various unsanitary conditions. Azula wrinkled her nose; the room certainly wasn't the worst in the world, but still it was...

"Unacceptable. Simply unacceptable." The sudden voice of Lord Ozai to Azula's left shocked her from her musings, and she stumbled sideways in shock. The sudden appearance of her father shocked Azula, though she knelt down quickly before her father. "Father, you're here!" Azula exclaimed in shock, smiling slightly at her father's sudden appearance. "Of course I am! Honestly Azula, did you think I'd just leave you to rot in this hole without at least making an appearance?" Ozai questioned, gesturing for Azula to rise as he circled his daughter. As she rose, wobbly in her efforts, Azula flinched slightly as Ozai sneered at her. "Why my prodigy, the supposed heir to my throne, would allow herself to be held in this prison. You are a princess Azula! You should have had this place under your control by now. But no, I found you slouched in a corner as your enemies gloat over your defeat." Ozai's harsh tone and towering position over Azula further emphasized the anger he had with his daughter.

"I'm sorry father! My bending...it...it isn't working well right now." At the look of disdain on Ozai's face Azula shrank back crying out, "I'll get out father, I swear! I just need a day or so to regain my strength. But after that I'll make my escape and prove myself to you!"

"I was too soft on you Azula." Ozai said, his voice softening as he backed away from her. "I gave you too much freedom. Allowed you too many hobbies, even let you play nice with that May-Lee and Tai girl. Now I can see that your little playmates did nothing but further weaken you! You're weak Azula, just like Zuko."

Azula gasped quietly, her face dropping at the bite in her father's tone. Anger surged through her at the comparison to Zuko, resorting to biting her tongue to keep from arguing against her father. "No father, I'm sorry! I'm nothing like Zuko, I've always done as you asked. It's my fault father, but I'll fix it. I swear father, I'll be better. Stronger. I swear it!" Azula's voice wavered as tears began to pool in her eyes, trying to keep in the tears that would only serve to further disappoint her father.

Ozai's lips curled into a snarl, his eyes taking in Azula's shaking form and watery eyes. As he turned away he lowly stated "You're pathetic" before vanishing into the air.

"Father! No father, wait! Come back...please come back." Azula's tears dripped down her cheeks as she collapsed onto her knees. As sob after sob wracked her body, the tears running down Azula's face began to hiss. Tears turned to steam and Azula's roar of anguish released bright blue flames from her mouth. The flames licked the walls, their heat manifesting itself in a slight red tinge to the stone. Azula's breath of fire burned away the pillow and blanket as she spun around in a circle, in a futile attempt to burn the room down.

The climbing heat of the room did little structural damage to the room but Azula could feel her own body giving out on her, having reached its level of maximum heat withstanding capabilities. As she collapsed onto the scorching floor, the left side of her face burning from contact, she smiled at the idea that perhaps this was the end for her. 'Not the most honorable way to go out.' Azula thought to herself as she tried to keep from passing out. Her anger and sadness temporarily abated by the overwhelming sense of exhaustion, the feeling left Azula empty inside.

As her vision began to darken around the edges, she became aware of a commotion outside her door. 'Maybe I'll take this place down with me.' Azula thought, a smile coming to her face at the possibility. Her quickly fading vision held out long enough for her to be able to see a group of people breaking down the door and part of the wall. As feet rushed towards her, Azula's eyes closed as she finally passed out.

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A/N: For clarification's sake, I imagined Azula's freak out moment to be similar to when Katara trapped her during their final battle. Also, I imagine the floor around Azula being on fire, even though scientifically stone doesn't stay lit for long.

I tried to look up some good science-y stuff to explain some stuff for this fic, but as it turns out the melting temperatures for rocks vary by different types. Not only that but I looked up stone's melting temp and it said it was 700 degrees Celsius. That is **insanely** hot!

: About to enter science zone - Prepare for learning (skip to end of section if you don't care about science...or if you don't feel like learning right now) :

**However**, since Azula's flames are BLUE it means they burn hotter than a regular bender's flames. According to Yahoo answers, the blue part of a flame is about 1,300 degrees Celsius! On the other hand, the color of a flame is also dependent on other factors like blackbody radiation, spectral band emission, and oxygen supply as well as other factors. I'm choosing to only acknowledge the fact that Azula's flames are blue due to them being super hot, so in this case it's totally plausible to imagine her flames "melting" the stone into a more liquid like state.

Now while that doesn't really allow for her flames to continue to burn once she runs out of steam, I also want to acknowledge that this is happening over a pretty short period of time. From the moment Ozai disappears to when the mystery benders break into the room, it all takes place within a relatively short time frame. Maybe roughly eight to ten minutes?

(**spoiler alert: the door was melted shut due to the high heat, this will be explained next chapter to all the people who skip author's notes :] )**

**: **End Science Section - Learning disabled (you can read again, there's nothing here that could really further enhance your learning. In fact there may be some grammar errors!) :

Anyways, more of this stuff will be explained next chapter. Not sure how long it will take too post, I have a couple of other stories I need to update. I'm sure some of my followers would be super pissed to see me writing this instead of the new chapter for their fics.

If anyone is willing to help me out by beta-ing shoot me a message! Thanks to all my readers :)

Love,  
Dragoncatcher123


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